Jon Michael McGrath




By WESLEY MAHAN
Sports Writer

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Cherokee Nation citizen Jon Michael McGrath has added more hardware to his trophy case by recently winning a gold medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Championships in Sydney, Australia. 

The 18-year-old junior world champion qualified for the finals by hitting 124 of 125 targets. He then hit all 25 in the final before defeating 2007 World Champion Georgois Achilleos of Cyprus in a shoot-off. The event featured 721 competitors from 64 countries.

McGrath said he felt relaxed for someone competing in the final round for a world championship. 

“I wasn’t really feeling any pressure. I knew if I could just stay focused on my shooting that everything else would work out, and it did.” 

However, after the win, relaxed was not in his vocabulary.

“I feel ecstatic. It’s a pretty great feeling. There’s not much that can compare to it right now,” he said.

McGrath has been on a hot streak recently. He was a member of the 2011 World Clay Target Championship Team and the USA Shooting Team that equaled a world record while capturing the ISSF World Cup team title in Concepcion, Chile. He was also a silver medalist in the 2010 Fall Selection and National Championships.

McGrath has 19 world titles in American and international skeet. He is currently ranked No. 6 six in the world rankings. 

During his career he has accumulated numerous shooting accolades, including a sliver in the 2010 Fall Selection, a junior gold medal and team silver medal at the 2010 World Shooting Championship, a bronze medal at the 2009 National Junior Olympic Championship and a gold medal at the 2008 National Championship.

wesleymahan@yahoo.com • (479) 427-9101